FOURTH QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #2
OCTOBER 9, 2021
“MOSES’ HISTORY LESSON”

 

And they "all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:3,4 NKJV).

Our earthly sojourn is filled with many days that follow, one after another, with little apparent change. We wake up, eat, go to work or school, come home, read, walk, go to bed. Repeat. In some ways life is like boarding a train at birth which does not stop or back up. The sameness of the view out the window for many miles is punctuated by mile markers noting our progression along life's journey as we move from one season of life to another.

I still remember when the beginner Sabbath School program leaders planned a graduation program for the one-year-olds in our Sabbath School class. They dressed them in mini-caps and black gowns and reminisced about the first year of life and how now they would be graduating to the two-year-old class. I couldn't help but cry. Was life really passing this quickly? Our baby had turned one and now she was already leaving something behind for something new. Life's milestones bring both joy and pain.

Birthdays, graduations, weddings, family and class reunions, a pending separation of loved ones either by distance or death, and funerals all share one thing in common. They punctuate the relative sameness of day-to-day existence with a review of the past and the path that led to the current event. These events heighten our awareness of the passage of time, of missed opportunities, and prompt a renewed appreciation for the time that remains. They serve as ebenezers along the highway of life. "I have been young, and now am old" (Psalm 37:5). Our journey is a short one.

And thus, it was with this realization keenly pressing upon him that Moses undertook to review Israel's history before he, too, would reach the end of his life's journey. It is in moments like these that tears come easily and the heart is softened upon reflection. For Israel, the bittersweetness of this experience could well be captured by the phrase, "What might have been."

"We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history" (LDE 72). Moses didn't write that, Ellen White did. That this sentiment was in Moses' heart is evident in his summary of Israel's history and how it intertwined with his own in the book of Deuteronomy.

Many of us feel uncomfortable in reviewing this history, even today, including (apparently) the author(s) of this quarter's lessons. An example of this is found in Thursday's lesson, October 7, where the quarterly says, "We are left with a difficult question regarding these incidents," a reference to how God instructed Israel to wipe out and destroy certain indigenous people groups in Canaan. It is popular these days to believe in a God of love (as evidenced in the New Testament), but many struggle to reconcile God's judgments on sinners with His character of love.

In a Sabbath School class discussion, I witnessed one Sabbath, a sister read a passage in Scripture that said God will punish them for their ways. She objected, "I don't like that word punish. It doesn't fit with the character of God."

So, either we need to rewrite the Bible to make it fit our view of the character of God, or we need to accept God's word for what it says. In this instance, the Sabbath School notes by Ellen White (published in a separate booklet to accompany this quarter's lessons) clear up the difficulty. Ellen White says, "The Lord is regarded as cruel by many in requiring His people to make war with other nations. They say that it is contrary to His benevolent character. But He Who made the world, and formed many to dwell upon the earth, has unlimited control over all the works of His hands, and it is His right to do as He pleases . . . . Man has no right to say to his Maker, Why doest Thou thus? There is no injustice in His character. He is the Ruler of the world, and a large portion of His subjects have rebelled against His authority, and have trampled upon His law. He has used His people as instruments of His wrath, to punish wicked nations, who have vexed them, and seduced them into idolatry" (SDA BC, vol. 1, 1117).

The bottom line is, sin is a temporary condition. It will not last forever. God is working to usher in His kingdom of righteousness and bring an utter end to sin. God's love includes mercy and justice. This point was not lost on the Israelites, who were called to the difficult task, at times, of personally being the means by which God's justice was meted out, even while they themselves were in need of the renewing grace of Christ. They could not easily deny that God will not forbear with sinners forever. Moses understood this. His heart yearned so much for the salvation of Israel that he appealed to God to blot out his own name from the book of life rather than to be saved without rebellious Israel. Such love as this is beyond comprehension.

But to the point of the lessons this quarter, Deuteronomy is a summation of Israel's history. They needed to comprehend the reason for the long delay in their entrance to Canaan in order not to repeat them on the other side of the Jordan.

Taylor Bunch, a well-known seminary professor, author, and church leader whose work dates back to the earlier part of the 20th century, wrote an essay called "Forty Years in the Wilderness in Type and Antitype." The whole essay should be required reading for adult Sabbath School students this quarter. In this document Bunch draws unmistakable parallels between Israel's history of wilderness wanderings and the long delay of the second coming of Christ.

A few excerpts follow:

(Section 33) "The antitype is true to the type. Since the rejection of the message of righteousness by faith in 1888, we as a people have practically lost sight of, and have been silent concerning, the great truth which is the very kernel and life of the gospel and which is divinely declared to be 'the third angel's message in verity.'"

 

(Section 36) "The time has come for the Advent people to carefully review their past history and profit by the mistakes made. Especially should we study the 1888 experience and learn the reasons for our wilderness wanderings. The instructions given through the Spirit of Prophecy to guide us to the promised land should be reviewed and appreciated as we near the end of our pilgrimage."

 

In reflecting on these themes, in my mind's eye I imagine another book, Adventism's Book of Deuteronomy. Of course, no such book exists, but there are many books that contain pieces of this story -- our story -- of how God led in the formation of our church and of the reasons why we are still here in this world after so many years when Christ could have come "ere this." The Israelites did not cross over to the promised land until they reviewed their history and repented for their unbelief.

The parallels between Moses' book of Deuteronomy and Adventism's book are many.

Both groups were called out of Egypt/Babylon. They were both to learn complete dependence on Christ for salvation and not any earthly support. Both were guided by living prophets who ultimately perished before seeing the promise fulfilled. Both stumbled in the wilderness and were seduced by the gods of this world. Idolatry, sensuality, unbelief, and ignorance of God and His law characterized both. To both were committed God's sacred law, the ten commandments, the health message, and the sanctuary. Both were shown the way of salvation is only by faith in the Lamb of God. Both had messengers of good news -- Caleb and Joshua, Jones and Waggoner -- and both failed to believe the Good News that God is well able to take care of all the giants in the land, nothing is too hard for God. Both groups struggled with gluttony and appetite and were plagued by sensuality in worship. The similarities are too many to recount here.

We are certainly living in troublous times, but no worldly events, however calamitous, can substitute for a good read of Adventism's Book of Deuteronomy. We pray that soon in the midst of all the other topics clamoring for our attention, "One interest will prevail, one theme will swallow up every other, -- Christ our Righteousness" (RH, December 23, 1890).

~Patti Guthrie